Back in 2015, the New York Knicks faced mixed reviews in the NBA Draft.
Kristaps Porzingis was the most notorious riser of the pre-draft process, climbing his way up the ladder in the days leading to the selection.
Being a European and not-so-known player, some were livid when the Knicks took him with the No. 4 pick.
Notably, that included Stephen A. Smith, who’s known for his rants and his love for the Knicks.
Smith put Phil Jackson and the Knicks on blast for getting Porzingis and passing on more “NBA-ready” players like Willie Cauley-Stein, Justise Winslow — who he called the steal of the Draft — and Stanley Johnson.
He also had one of his all-time great quotes and moments by stating that Knicks fans had been “hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok, and flat-out deceived by Phil Jackson” (via @itsAntWright).
Stephen A Smith’s Porzingis draft rant pic.twitter.com/MA6RC0hc8C
— ᗩᑎT ᗯᖇIGᕼT (@itsAntWright) June 7, 2024
So, now that Porzingis is a huge factor on a team that’s playing in the NBA Finals and all those other players are out of the league, the clip has resurfaced and gone viral.
To be fair, everybody was quite high on those three players, and Winslow could’ve had a long and successful career if it wasn’t for injuries.
Also, Smith backpedaled in time and gave Porzingis his flowers when he started playing well for the Knicks.
Looking back, that wound up being one of the most disappointing classes in NBA history, with only Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, and Porzingis still being in the league among the top-10 selections.
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